Start with a regular piece of 8½ by 11 lined paper. Angle it so that the bottom of the piece of paper is facing you. Next, count 13 lines up from the bottom of the page, and fold the paper upwards along that line. Then, fold the piece of paper from left to right along the center of the page. Simple task for you right? The piece of paper that you’re now holding in your hand is the approximate size of the new iPad mini. This was not such a simple task for Apple.
Apple’s goal was to create the smallest possible iPad without losing any of its special features, and I’ll admit I was impressed. 53% lighter and 23% thinner than the original iPad, the new pencil-thin iPad mini has, like nearly all of the other Apple products, awed consumers globally. Just over this past weekend, Apple sold 3 million iPad mini and iPad units.
There’s a rapidly accumulating body of evidence that’s attracting countless consumers. The iPad mini has the Facetime HD and iSight cameras, which are both equal in power to that of the most recent iPad, while the iPad 2 is left in the dust with far less resolution. The iPad mini comes with Siri and three carrier options, including Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, which was not available with the iPad 2. The device also has the powerful dual core A5 chip, which is installed on the iPad 2.
Best of all, the iPad Mini’s standard price is almost two hundred dollars cheaper than its most recent predecessor.
More than 275,000 apps on the App store exist with one and a half-million books on the iBooks store, and over 500,000 different magazines and newspapers on Newstand created specifically for the iPad.
A few factors, however, make the Google Nexus and Kindle Fire seem equally appealing. The Google Nexus 10 has the world’s highest resolution display, and the Kindle Fire costs almost half the price of each of these two products!
When all the news came out about Apple’s mini iPad, my mom and I discussed whether it would be a good choice to purchase this product. Apple’s website began taking pre-orders on October 26th, and by noon of that day, all products had been sold out before we had even come to a decision.
Although the iPad mini was so hot, Apple’s stocks failed to rise. Clearly, Apple is losing its ability to produce the amount of products its consumers demand, as seen when the iPad mini completely sold out within a matter of hours. In addition, many Chinese workers at Foxconn, the chief manufacturer of Apple products, went on strike. Even gathering raw materials for making these new products has become more challenging.
The iPad minis may be in extremely high demands, but they could be cutting into the revenues of other Apple products such as the iPad 2 and the iPad with retina display. Perhaps if the profits made from iPad minis skyrocketed and the profits made from other Apple products remained constant, Apple’s stocks will grow, but this is not likely the case.
Digital products typically reach their peak of consumer interest once they are just released but begin to plummet when the newest competitor comes out. Some are now saying Apple has created its own competitors, and while the new iPad has impressed Apple fans worldwide, it has simultaneously diverted attention away from the company’s other products.
No one knows where Apple is headed. Some think that Apple will become yet another company too big to move either forward or backward. Others believe this minor decrease in Apple’s stock is just another perfect buying opportunity, and that Apple will recover again soon. Time will tell, but for now, investors and consumers alike are going to have to wait and see.
The iPad Mini Fact Checker:
Who makes it? -Apple
What is it? -iPad Mini
Price Wi-Fi: -16 GB – $329
-32 GB – $429
-64 GB – $529
Wi-Fi + Cellular: -16 GB – $459
-32 GB – $559
-64 GB – $659
Size -Height: 7.87 inches (200 mm)
-Width: 5.3 inches (134.7 mm)
-Depth: 0.28 inches (7.2 mm)
Weight -0.68 pounds (308 g)
Display -7.9 inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with IPS
Resolution -1024 by 768 resolution at 163 pixels per inch
Screen -Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Chip -Dual-core A5
Facetime Camera -1.2 MP photos
-720p HD video
-FaceTime video calling over
-WiFi or Cellular
-Face detection
-Backside illumination
iSight Camera -Autofocus
-Face Detection
-Backside illumination
Video Recording -1080p HD video recording
-Tap to focus while recording
-Video stabilization
-Face detection
-Backside illumination
Carriers -AT&T, Sprint, Verizon
SIM Card -Nano-SIM card
Battery Life -Up to 10 hours
Intelligent Assistant -Siri-voice activated helper
Written by Andrew Zhang’16
